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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/10\/23\/us\/politics\/democrats-congress-majority-agenda.html?emc=edit_nn_20261024&nl=the-morning&segment_id=228603",
    "parsed_content": "Tracking the Early VoteThe Race for CongressWhen to Vote in Your StateControl of the HouseLatest PollsAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTHere\u2019s What Democrats Plan to Do With Their Power if They Win Back CongressDemocrats have campaigned on lowering living costs and holding the Trump administration accountable. This is a look at their to-do list if they win the majority.Listen \u00b7 10:59 min Share full articleShould they win in November, top House Democrats are planning a shock-and-awe legislative sprint to demonstrate within hours of taking power that they are passing bills to deliver on their promises.Credit...Nick Hagen for The New York TimesBy Annie KarniReporting from WashingtonOct. 23, 2026\n \n \n See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google \n \n With Democrats increasingly confident they will win control of the House next month and hopeful of a majority in the Senate, party leaders are turning to the next challenge: deciding what they will do with their power if they get it.For months, they have promised voters they will address an \u201caffordability crisis\u201d they blamed on failed Republican policies, pledging to lower the high cost of groceries, gas and health care. And they have vowed to combat what they say is rampant corruption by President Trump and his administration, though they have shied away from promising an impeachment after their first two efforts to remove him from office failed.Should they win in November, top House Democrats are planning a shock-and-awe legislative sprint to demonstrate within hours of taking power that they are passing bills to deliver on their promises, including restoring health care subsidies and Medicaid resources and moving to end Mr. Trump\u2019s tariffs and the war with Iran.They will face steep challenges given that Republicans are all but certain to retain the ability to block legislation in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance major measures. (Democrats would have to make a net gain of 13 Senate seats to win a filibuster-proof majority, something not even the most bullish among them expect to come close to next month.) And Mr. Trump will still have veto power. The president and his advisers are also unlikely to bow to congressional oversight, having stonewalled past efforts by lawmakers to investigate their actions.But Democrats argue they would be able to use a majority to check the president and roll back some of his worst policies. And they expect their actions to set the conversation for the 2028 presidential campaign.\u201cWhile Trump is still president, we\u2019re not going to pass visionary progressive legislation,\u201d Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who is in line to be the No. 2 Democrat next year, said in an interview. \u201cIf you give us power, we will in some cases reverse his decisions, stop him from making terrible decisions and in other cases slow him down.\u201dHere\u2019s what Democrats are planning to do if they win.First 100 Hours: Undoing Unpopular Trump PoliciesShould Democrats prevail next month, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat and minority leader who would be in line to be speaker, is planning to quickly pass broadly popular bills that unite the Democratic Caucus and would undo Mr. Trump\u2019s most disliked policies.ImageRepresentative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader, has indicated that he would look to use the tax code to address high living costs.Credit...Tierney L. Cross for The New York TimesMr. Jeffries, according to aides, plans in the first 100 hours to speed legislation to the floor that would:Reinstate expired Affordable Care Act health care premium subsidies.Reverse the nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts that were included in the president\u2019s domestic policy law.Move to end Mr. Trump\u2019s tariffs and restore congressional power over trade policy.Direct Mr. Trump to end the war in Iran or seek authorization from Congress to continue it.Democratic leaders believe the measures are all consensus items among their members that are basic enough to bypass time-consuming committee consideration and go straight to the floor. They could be voted on before committees were even set up, and would be all but certain to pass in the House, where a simple majority is needed.Reaching for Republican Support in the SenateThe picture is more complicated in the Senate, where Republicans would still have the ability to filibuster legislation even if Democrats capture the majority.But some Democrats argue the first batch of bills they have in mind are so broadly popular that they could draw enough G.O.P. support to pass the Senate and make it to Mr. Trump\u2019s desk, where he would face steep political consequences if he vetoed them.\u201cWhen Trump looks bad over and over again in public opinion, he chickens out,\u201d said Representative Deborah K. Ross, Democrat of North Carolina, who has been serving on an internal working group giving feedback to Mr. Jeffries on the agenda for next year.\u201cIf we\u2019re passing hugely bipartisan bills that are wildly popular, he has a choice,\u201d Ms. Ross said. \u201cAnd in the past, he has chosen to not buck public opinion on those things.\u201dImageRepresentative Deborah Ross, Democrat of North Carolina, has been serving on an internal working group giving feedback to Mr. Jeffries on the agenda for next year.Credit...Kenny Holston\/The New York TimesRahm Emanuel, the former congressman and White House chief of staff who has been advising House Democratic leaders on strategy, said the initial slate of bills would give the party the chance to shape the political agenda.If Democrats propose popular policies that attract Republican votes, \u201cit\u2019s game on, baby,\u201d said Mr. Emanuel, who is eyeing a presidential run in 2028. \u201cTrump then has to make a decision: Signs it, we win. Vetoes it, we win. The whole strategy is what unites us and divides them.\u201dDemocratic leaders in the Senate see a path to reversing the Medicaid cuts and reductions in nutrition assistance enacted as part of the tax cut law, as well as a bipartisan appetite to pass a serious ban on lawmakers\u2019 trading stocks, which emerged as a major issue on the campaign trail.But first, they plan to address the war in Iran.\u201cThe first objective is to bring this war to a conclusion,\u201d said Mr. Schatz, who declined to outline exactly what legislative actions the Senate would consider, but said there were a number of ways to do so. \u201cIt\u2019s costing regular Americans too much, it\u2019s not working, it\u2019s not making us safer. Everyone knows it, and that should be our No. 1 objective.\u201dSome Democrats have been discussing the possibility of withholding their votes to fund the war, which would be Congress\u2019s most potent tool to halt it.Investigations and OversightWhether or not they make any progress on legislation, Democrats are planning to use their congressional oversight powers aggressively to investigate Mr. Trump and his administration. They have made combating corruption a central plank of their closing midterm campaign message, arguing that it is costing voters money.\u201cIf the president is going to veto our actions, well then in the meantime, we\u2019ll be zeroing in on all of the corruption, which is the true commitment of this administration,\u201d said Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who would be in line to be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee next year if his party were to win power.He declined to outline his first targets, but he named a few preliminary areas of focus:The pardon industry that has sprouted up around Mr. Trump.Potential corruption in public contracting and the awarding of no-bid contracts.The rivers of cryptocurrency that are flowing into the government and to the Trump family on an anonymous basis.Mr. Raskin said he expected Trump administration officials to disregard subpoenas. He plans to seek information from whistle-blowers, private entities that have been involved in government shakedowns, political bribes and influence peddling through various slush funds, and other sources of public information.Image\u201cIf the president is going to veto our actions, well then in the meantime, we\u2019ll be zeroing in on all of the corruption, which is the true commitment of this administration,\u201d said Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York TimesDemocrats are expecting intraparty friction about when and whether to impeach Mr. Trump or any of his cabinet officials, whom they have routinely condemned as corrupt and unfit to serve.Scarred by their experience with two past impeachments of Mr. Trump that fell flat and emboldened him, they have been hesitant to participate in a replay. They are aware that any action that looks overtly political can rebound the president\u2019s approval numbers by making him a martyr to his supporters.\u201cWe haven\u2019t ruled anything in, and we haven\u2019t ruled anything out,\u201d Mr. Jeffries has said repeatedly when pressed on the subject.But they are under pressure from a large share of their voters to take that action. More than 70 Democratic lawmakers have called for either Mr. Trump\u2019s impeachment or the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove him.\u201cWe understand from our own experience that impeachment is no panacea,\u201d Mr. Raskin said, noting that it is unlikely that Democrats would be able to persuade the requisite two-thirds of the Senate needed to convict and remove him. \u201cWe are sober about the constitutional arithmetic.\u201dFirst 100 Days: Tax Credits, ICE Limits and Stock TradesBeyond their initial sprint, Democrats have yet to agree on a full slate of policies they would pursue with a majority. People familiar with their plans say leaders intend to take some action to make ICE more accountable, as well as on legislation to raise the minimum wage and ban congressional stock trading.In interviews, Mr. Jeffries has indicated that he would look to use the tax code to address high living costs. He would seek to expand the low-income housing tax credit for companies that build affordable housing, as well as refundable tax credits \u2014 those available to people who earn too little to owe income taxes \u2014 including the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit.ImageDemocrats will face steep challenges given that Republicans are all but certain to retain the ability to block legislation in the Senate.Credit...Tierney L. Cross for The New York TimesDemocrats would most likely have to grapple with how to regulate artificial intelligence, which has become a major political issue. And they will have to decide whether they want to use spending bills to try to force policy changes on the Trump administration, knowing that doing so could result in a government shutdown fight.Different factions are also vying to shape the agenda:The Democratic Women\u2019s Caucus wants to focus on child care and elder care issues.Democratic socialist candidates have campaigned on Medicare for All and abolishing ICE.Senator Andy Kim, Democrat of New Jersey, has been pushing to position his \u201cMedikids\u201d legislation \u2014 which would provide universal health insurance to children \u2014 as the party\u2019s marquee health care bill. \u201cWho is going to look us in the eye and say they don\u2019t want to give health care to kids?\u201d he said. \u201cWe all want universal health care; this is the right first step to get us there.\u201dProgressives are pushing a \u201cNew Affordability Agenda\u201d that addresses narrow issues related to the cost of living, paid for by tax increases on wealthy Americans. \u201cWe should pass sick leave; the next week, raise minimum wage; the next week we should pass family leave; the next week we should pass vacation leave,\u201d said Representative Greg Casar of Texas, the chairman of the House Progressive Caucus. \u201cI want us to be passing so much.\u201dFrom the commentsAnnie KarniCongressional reporterOne thing that surprised me while reporting this story was how open Democrats were about what they want to do if they regain power. I expected them to be more guarded, saying, \u201cWe have to get through the election first.\u201d Instead, they were willing to talk specifics. To me, that signaled both confidence they can win back the House and a desire to do more on the trail than simply blame Republicans for bad policies.Annie KarniCongressional reporterBut it also made me wonder how much harder these plans might be to accomplish than they appear on paper, given the divisions within the party \u2014 and how much any of this will resonate with voters if Democrats can't actually turn their plans into law.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT"
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